JOHNSON CITY, Tenn. (Oct. 2, 2010) - The ETSU men's soccer team picked up its fifth straight win as the Bucs netted two goals in the second half against Mercer to come from behind 2-1 Saturday night at Summers-Taylor Stadium.

"This was a very physical contest between two teams with contrasting styles," said head coach Scott Calabrese. "More importantly, it was a crucial conference match to keep ourselves atop the Atlantic Sun standings. I am extremely proud of the way we conducted ourselves tonight."

The Bucs (7-2-0, 2-0-0 A-Sun) dominated the game offensively as they outshot Mercer (5-2-1, 1-1-0 A-Sun) 20-5 in the contest putting eight shots on frame, while the Bears had a slight edge in corners, 3-2.Sophomore Ronnie Hreha (Asheville, N.C.) had to effort just one save in the contest as he improved to 4-1 on the season.

"There were several occasions where the game could have gotten out of control, but we were able to maintain our composure and fight back from a one-goal deficit to win the match," Calabrese said. "The players deserve tremendous credit as they showed they are determined to overcome difficult situations, to work hard and to win."

Freshman David Geno (Kingsport, Tenn.) looked to have put the Bucs on the board in the 24th minute as he blasted a wide open shot from inside the penalty area, but MU's Brett Petricek was up to the challenge as he made a nice save to keep the game scoreless.

Mercer jumped out in front 1-0 in the 36th minute as Ian Cameron sent a corner kick into the side of the net past an ETSU defender for a goal.

In the second half, the Buccaneers evened the match at 1-all on a goal by Alesi Osorio (Austin, Texas) in the 53rd minute. The Bucs drew a foul deep on the Mercer end of the field, and Osorio was in the right spot to knock in the rebound from the free kick by senior Guilherme Reis (Belo Horizonte, Brazil).

Osorio then came up with a big save in the 60th minute as Taylor Krek fired a shot towards the open end of the ETSU net, but Osorio was there to keep the ball from going in as he headed it away from danger.

ETSU then went in front in the 78th minute as Geno fired a shot on goal that was saved by Petricek, but freshman Blaike Woodruff (Georgetown, Texas) beat a Mercer defender and slotted the rebound from the shot into the back of the net to give ETSU a 2-1 advantage.

The Buccaneer defense played strong down the stretch as they did not allow a shot by the Bears in the final 29 minutes of the contest.

The Bucs are back in action next Friday at 7 p.m. as they head to DeLand, Fla. to take Stetson. For more information on ETSU men's soccer and all other Buccaneer athletic news please visit www.ETSUBucs.com.